It's all relative

In the May 2010 issue of Outdoor Photographer that landed in my mailbox today, George Lepp references the next generation of nature photographers. In that spirit:

Ladies and gentlemen (and RichieV), I'd like to introduce you to my aspiring nature photographer nephew, Charley Caudle. The kid's only been at this a few years (or less?), but he's got a knack for this craft we love so much, and I am very inspired by his enthusiasm. Today I ran across some files he sent me home with MONTHS ago, which I neglected to hdr-process for him, so today I did an exposure fusion treatment on them, cropped it to pano to eliminate the blown-out sun area, and I present it here for C&C. Don't feel you have to go easy on him -- he's a Colorado State Patrol trooper, and I'm sure he's heard much worse directed at him from people he's ticketed and/or arrested than anything you could say here. I'll be gifting him a membership to NPN shortly, since he's been lurking, so expect another Caudle in your midst soon.

You've been warned...

Beautiful scene and nice lighting!
I like the way the sunflowers 'pop' here. The weeds in front actually make a nice touch, and the mountains in the background are the cherry on the cake.

I would still crop off even more of the overexposed skies, though. It really is distracting to my eye even with your favorite uncle's original crop.
Better yet, have Uncle Todd show you how to patch up that area with his soon-to-arrive version of CS5.

Nice. Charley has a good eye and a nice sense of color. I might take out the rest of the bright sky too like John suggests.

I like it. Lets see more.

And welcome to NPN!

Oh, no, not another Caudle! Yep lose the bright part of the sky and the rest is a keeper. Nice crop and hdr work, TC.

Wow, thanks for the intro! I like the pano you made with this, Todd. In the full version you can see more of the sky, which has a much nicer blue, rather than the bright overexposed clouds you see in the pano.

I've actually been stalking this forum for quite a while and I am happy to start communicating with such great artists! And no, two Caudles don't make a right, so I feel really bad for all of you. Not really.

As for my critique...I really don't mind the bright clouds since I know what the rest of the sky looks like, but the HDR process left the LRC a little bright and needing a little more contrast. If the LRC looked like the LLC it would be perfecto...IMO. Thanks for working on this photo!

I'm glad to be here!

---Edit
I just realized that I am using a laptop and my screen is waaay brighter than most. Disregard my LRC comment.

Crop it to just where those rays come down and you've got a winner!!!!!!

Oh no, two Caudles...can I handle it??

Hey Charles - Welcome to the madness! This is a killer first post. Love the sea of flowers and dynamic light beaming from the clouds. Really looking forward to seeing more of your work here in the forums.

On another note, thanks for your law enforcement service. It's a thankless job and I for one appreciate all you do.

FYI: Bret's a cop, too. Moab's finest -- but it's a bar set low.

Indeed it is Todd. Indeed it is. Hey, would Charles be interested in joining us for either of our workshops at the end of the year? I bet we could let him in at a super steep discount since he's family and all.

Love the colors and comp. I might get rid of the rest of the blown sky also, but overall, very nice!

Todd and Brett doing a workshop? Is there a discount for forum members??? Where and when?

Hey Jack,

We're doing two workshops together this year. The first is in the San Juans (fall color!) Sept. 30 - Oct. 3 and the second is in Moab, Nov. 4 - 7. More information here: Moab Photo Workshops. It'd be cool if you could join us!

Very nice. Agree with the distraction from the blown sky and maybe a little more cropping. Looks like it was taken near Longmont.

No need to go easy on this! The blown out sky isn't a deal-breaker for me, but I don't miss it if it's cropped either.

On another note, thanks for your law enforcement service. It's a thankless job and I for one appreciate all you do.

Welcome aboard Charles, and great shot as well. C'mon Bret, I thank police, state patrol, firefighters, etc all the time. And it's well deserved!

Thanks everyone! Great feedback. I was actually taking a detour on Weld County Road 1, just south of Hwy 119 and was forced to go this direction (So Steven was right about the location). I had to pull over and setup for bracketing, take my three shots, then continue driving.

Bret- I would love to go with you guys. As you know, it depends on my schedule. I'll let you know!